The market
The global calcium carbonate (CaCO3) market has surpassed the 100 million ton mark and is projected to continue growing, reaching $35 billion by 2015. Consumption growth in the Asian market is expected to exceed 7% by 2017. China accounts for approximately 70% of global production. Calcium carbonate is an inorganic mineral used as an additive in paper, plastics, coatings, as well as in talc and kaolin for personal care products. The paper industry represents the largest market, as the mineral provides a highly sought-after gloss without the need for chlorine, which has recently been phased out due to its harmful effects on health and the environment. Uncoated wood-free paper, which accounts for nearly 40% of the total paper market, is the primary end user of calcium carbonate-based additives. Calcium carbonate is non-toxic and, at a certain level of purity, can be used as a direct food additive or as an ingredient in cosmetics and even pharmaceuticals. Its use in writing instruments has declined with the advent of chemically based pencils. Pearls, shells, fish bones, and coral are important deposits of this highly alkaline mineral, which would potentially see increasing demand if it were not limited by mining. Calcium carbonate was first produced commercially in 1841 in the United Kingdom by treating calcium chloride with sodium carbonate. For a century, calcium carbonate has been extracted from limestone. Today, the world's largest producer is Specialty Minerals Inc. (SMI), a subsidiary of Minerals Technologies Manufacturing (USA), which produces over 4 million tons of calcium carbonate annually in 55 plants located in 18 countries, generating nearly $600 million in revenue. The largest producer in India is Kunal Calcium Limited, a company that has quintupled its production over the past decade, reflecting a sharp increase in consumption in Asia.
Innovation
The primary raw material for calcium carbonate is extracted limestone. Most limestone consists of skeletal fragments of marine organisms, especially corals. Extraction and processing are usually done on-site. Limestone was a popular building material in the Middle Ages, but due to its reactivity with acids, historic buildings were severely damaged by acid rain and fell out of favor in today's climate where acidic water and air dominate the urban environment. Pure calcium carbonate as a food or medicinal additive is made from marble, and cosmetics sometimes contain crushed pearls. Dissolved calcium carbonate is found in abundance in water, leading to water hardness, scale buildup in pipes, and damage, particularly in water heaters. The chemical process for softening water is sodium- or phosphate-based. This renders calcium carbonate unusable for any commercial application, and worse still, the use of phosphates makes the water unfit for consumption. Unfortunately, none of the wastewater treatment processes can effectively remove calcium carbonate as a byproduct, so its presence increases maintenance costs and reduces equipment lifespan. Brendon Risby was fascinated by vortex technology, first described by Viktor Schauberger about a century ago. Brendon and his father had pioneered many designs and had exchanged ideas early on with Curt Hallberg, who successfully developed vortex-based applications for water conditioning through the company Watreco AB (see Case 1). Unlike Curt, Brendon investigated the potential uses of the vortex for separating materials, and one of his first commercial applications was the treatment of organic waste. He studied how to grind, dry, and sort waste to obtain high-value products. He focused on the local treatment of waste using this swirling motion, which follows a precise mathematical algorithm. He quickly identified multiple business opportunities for his innovative use of the vortex concept. He then created a machine that processes a wide range of streams, from peat and sludge to sand drying and clay processing, as well as specific waste streams such as recycled carpet tiles. This vortex-based device was subsequently named the "Vortair Processor." In 2009, Brendon and his partners founded AgroPlas A/S, a Norwegian-British company focused on transforming research findings into intellectual property and business models for construction and operation. In essence, AgroPlas is dedicated to transforming the negative cost of waste into sustainable, revenue-generating products of value.
The first cash flow
One of the first waste streams Brendon focused on was eggshells, considered a cost in hatcheries and food processing plants. In Europe alone, an estimated 150,000 tons of eggshells are landfilled annually at a cost of €50 to €200 per ton, depending on the location. Over half a million tons of eggshells are discarded in China. Since eggshells are a well-known source of pharmaceutical-grade calcium carbonate, the key is to separate the membranes from the shell. This process, originally tedious and expensive, is greatly simplified by the Vortair machine, transforming this waste into a valuable source of renewable, membrane-free calcium carbonate, without the need for any moving parts or human intervention. A single Vortair unit can process 10,000 tons of eggshell waste at an anticipated cost of €6 per ton, generating a revenue that is significantly higher. High-quality calcium carbonate processed without the use of chemicals and with minimal energy offers a potential revenue of €1,300 per ton. This breakthrough is likely to bring about a major shift in the high-end calcium carbonate market, moving from the cost of shredded marble to hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue. The Vortair is the only known technology capable of the efficient and profitable recycling of eggshells. Converting waste into a renewable raw material, improving the competitiveness of industry while reducing mining needs, is a priority of the blue economy.
The opportunity
While this technology was commercially launched in 2011, it is expected that the local processing of eggshells alone will lead to the creation of 30 to 50 new businesses, each operating a Vortair locally in connection with a large industrial complex. The same principle could be applied to paper sludge, which, due to its clay content, is landfilled as waste. The Vortair first separates the water and then produces two dried substances: one with organic fibers and the other with inorganic clay. Both are suitable for commercial reuse and sale. With a processing capacity of 25,000 tons per year for residual sludge from paper recycling, this innovation not only reduces landfill but also increases potential revenue without the need for energy-intensive drying or pressing. European paper recycling plants dispose of approximately 20 million tons of paper sludge annually. This implies that this innovation has the potential to lead to the creation of 800 processing plants that could be established within the European Union alone, thereby reducing landfill and generating revenue. Entrepreneurs, where are you? It's no surprise that the potential for reducing landfill sites and increasing revenue has prompted some municipal companies to take the lead and innovate. The first municipal company in the world to decide to invest in these innovations presented by Brendon and his team is the city of Drammen in Norway. Since 2001, citizens have been committed to recovering as many resources as possible from waste, and they created Lindum A/S to reduce landfill use, lower greenhouse gas emissions, decrease raw material consumption, reduce energy consumption, and increase revenue for the city. The company has achieved a net profit of approximately one million euros per year. Building on its first decade of success, Lindum is now partnering with AgroPlas to demonstrate the potential of transforming waste management into a materials supply chain that makes the community more competitive, creates jobs, and guides businesses toward sustainability. Who says entrepreneurs only exist in the private sector?
